KidWorks, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that provides academic, spiritual and leadership programs for underserved children and teens, will present its 2017 Dan Donahue Leadership Award to David A. Pyle, a philanthropist and founder and CEO of American Career College of West Coast University.

KidWorks, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that provides academic, spiritual and leadership programs for underserved children and teens, will present its 2017 Dan Donahue Leadership Award to David A. Pyle, a philanthropist and founder and CEO of American Career College of West Coast University.

On the move

The British American Business Council of Orange County appointed Justin Hastings as BABC-OC president and Tim Roberts as its new vice president. Hastings is the chief human resources officer for Experian North America in Costa Mesa. He joined Experian as HR director for the U.K. and Ireland, then moved to lead HR in the North America region in November 2015. Roberts is the president of T.E. Roberts, a company that designs underground pipeline projects for private and public entities. Originally from Kent, England, Roberts moved to the U.S. in 1983 and worked in the underground construction industry before starting his company.

Jim Chambers has been appointed senior vice president and general manager for Iteris’ Agriculture and Weather Analytics segment. The transportation and agriculture informatics firm is based in Santa Ana. Chambers joins Iteris from Observant, a provider of agricultural in-field hardware and cloud based applications for precision farm water management, where he has been chief executive since February 2016.

Bernardo Rodriguez has been named to the newly created position of chief digital officer at market research firm J.D. Power in Costa Mesa. Rodriguez will be responsible for advancing J.D. Power’s digital transformation with responsibility for new product development, branding, marketing and mergers and acquisitions. He joins the firm from Huge, a full-service digital agency, where he served as managing director of strategy.

In case you missed it:

Irvine-based design firm LPA has named Wendy Rogers its chief executive. Rogers, who started at LPA as a college intern in 1987, assumes the role from Robert Kupper who was CEO for 30 years. Rogers is the firm’s second CEO in its 52-year history. Kupper, LPA said, will remain in an advisory role. Rogers, a longtime principal at LPA, has held a variety of roles including her most recent post as chief talent officer, a position she held for two years. She started in company’s civic division before moving to schools, eventually overseeing K-12 design work.

New ventures

Shadi Kassem, owner of AIM Mail Center #35 at 30025 Alicia Pkwy., has signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer, serving the Laguna Niguel community. Kassem’s store will offer U-Haul trucks, support rental items, boxes and in-store pick up for boxes. Hours of operation for U-Haul rentals are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday throught Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, call 949-273-1103.

Good works

Staff members from Kindred At Home throughout August are distributing food collection bags to gather donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County, a benefactor of Kindred’s 13th annual food drive. Four Kindred Hospitals in the Orange County and Los Angeles market – Kindred Hospital Brea, Kindred Hospital La Mirada, Kindred Hospital Santa Ana and Kindred Hospital Westminster – are serving as food collection sites to support the drive. This year, the team is looking to surpass its 2016 collection, which yielded more than 331,000 pounds of goods for donation to charitable organizations across the country. For more information, visit www.kindredathome.com or contact Rhea Jones at 949-697- 5914. The Kindred At Home office is at 3240 El Camino Real, Suite 190, Irvine, CA 92602.

Milestones

KidWorks, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that provides academic, spiritual and leadership programs for underserved children and teens, will present its 2017 Dan Donahue Leadership Award to David A. Pyle, a philanthropist and founder and CEO of American Career College of West Coast University. Pyle will be honored at the group’s annual Foundation for Success luncheon in November. For more information, contact Lisa Gels at lisa.gels@kidworksoc.org or 714-834-9400, ext.126.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach is the highest ranked hospital in Orange County in the new annual ranking by U.S. News & World Report. This report also ranked the hospital third-best in the Los Angeles metro area and eighth-best in California overall. Hoag was the only Orange County hospital ranked in the Top 10 for California.

Coming up

The Orange County Chapter of the Risk Management Association will present Southern California C&I Lending, a presentation by Bill Phelan, president and co-founder of PayNet, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21 at The Pacific Club, 4110 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. The discussion will include an overview of C&I lending conditions, financial technology and credit risk by region and industry. The cost to attend is $65 for RMA members, $75 for non-members. Register online at rmaoc.org or call Vicki Phillipy at 714-267‐5281.

Status Update is compiled by contributing writer Karen Levin and edited by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items to sgowen@scng.com. High-resolution images also can be submitted. Allow at least one week for publication. Items are edited for length and clarity.

Samantha Gowen has been with The Orange County Register since October 2000, arriving from South Florida just days before the presidential election imploded. (Remember hanging chads?) She began her job here as a copy editor, then shifted to page design. In the ensuing years, she's been the Register's pets' editor, an iPad producer, trending reporter, and car culture writer. Three years ago, Sam moved to the Business team as their deputy editor. In January 2016, she was promoted to business editor. Her team specializes in real estate, economy, retail and food industry coverage.

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